“Firstly, a phone is not evidence. And secondly, a phone was not destroyed. Even under the assumption that a phone had been destroyed, Gayoom did not partake in that act. There is no evidence to prove a crime was committed,” he told reporters Sunday night.

Responding to reports that the case had been sent back to police, he said it would not be surprising if the PG’s office decided not to press charges.

Shameem claimed that even if police consider mobile phones as evidence “a phone in itself is not evidence.”

“It becomes evidence because of the information it contains,” he said.

The mobile phones of several opposition figures have been confiscated under the state of emergency declared following a Supreme Court order to release nine prisoners.